Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey (29 May 1828 - 29 October 1907) was an English poet and literary critic, and a self-educated Egyptologist. Life Overview Massey was born near Tring, Herts. As a boy he worked in a silk-factory, and as a straw-plaiter and errand boy. When he was 15 he came to London, where he was taken up by Maurice and Kingsley. His 1st book was published in 1851, but he 1st attracted attention by Babe Christabel (1854). This was followed by War Waits, Craigcrook Castle, and Havelock's March. A selection from these was published in 1889, under the title of My Lyrical Life. Later he wrote and lectured on spiritualism, and produced prose works on the origin of myths and mysteries in The Book of Beginnings (1881), The Natural Genesis (1883), and Ancient Egypt: The light of the world (1907). He also wrote a book on the sonnets of Shakespeare. Massey had a true lyrical vein, but though often musical, page 263he was at times harsh and rugged, and did not give sufficient attention to form and finish.John William Cousin, "Massey, Gerald," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 262-263. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 11, 2018. Youth Massey was born near Tring, Hertfordshire, on 29 May 1828. His parents were in humble circumstances, and Massey was little more than a child when he was set to hard work in a silk factory, which he afterwards deserted for the equally laborious occupation of straw-plaiting. These early years were rendered gloomy by much distress and deprivation, against which the young man strove with increasing spirit and virility, educating himself in his spare time, and gradually cultivating his innate taste for literary work.Britannica 1911, 867. Career He was attracted by the movement known as Christian Socialism, into which he threw himself with whole-hearted vigor, and so became associated with Frederick Maurice and Charles Kingsley. His earliest public appearance as a writer was in connection with a journal called the Spirit of Freedom, of which he became editor, and he was only 22 when he published his 1st volume of poems, Voices of Freedom and Lyrics of Love. These he followed in rapid succession by The Ballad of Babe Christabel (1854), War Waits (1855), Havelock’s March (1860), and A Tale of Eternity (1869). Many years afterwards in 1889, he collected the best of the contents of these volumes, with additions, into a 2-volume edition of his poems called My Lyrical Life. He also published works dealing with spiritualism, the study of Shakespeare’s sonnets (1872 and 1890), and theological speculation. It is, however, as an Egyptologist that Gerald Massey is best known in the world of letters. During the later years of his life, (from about 1870 onwards) Massey became interested increasingly in Egyptology and the similarities that exist between ancient Egyptian mythology and the Gospel stories. He studied the extensive Egyptian records housed in the British Museum, eventually teaching himself to decipher the hieroglyphics."Gerald Massey Collection-Upper Norwood Joint Library He 1st published The Book of the Beginnings, followed by The Natural Genesis; but by far his most important work is Ancient Egypt: The light of the world, published shortly before his death. His work, which draws comparisons between the Judeo-Christian religion and the Egyptian religion, is not considered significant in the field of modern Egyptology and is not mentioned in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt or similar reference works of modern Egyptology. He died on 29 October 1907. Writing Poems Massey's poetry has a certain rough and vigorous element of sincerity and strength which easily accounts for its popularity at the time of its production. He treated the theme of Sir Richard Grenville before Tennyson thought of using it, with much force and vitality. Indeed, Tennyson's own praise of Massey's work is still its best eulogy, for the Laureate found in him a poet of fine lyrical impulse, and of a rich half-Oriental imagination. The inspiration of Massey's poetry is essentially British; he was a patriot to the core. Horus and Jesus One of the more sensational aspects of Massey's writings were the parallels he drew between the Christian god Jesus of Nazareth and the Egyptian god Horus. These comparisons are primarily contained in his book The Natural Genesis. Massey's writings on this subject have influenced various later authors such as: Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Tom Harpur, and Acharya S.Parallels between the Lives of Jesus and Horus, an Egyptian God Some of the similarities that Massey claimed existed are that they both #Were born of virgins on December 25 #Taught in a temple as a child at age 12 #Were teachers who had 12 Disciples #Were baptized in a river #Gave a sermon on the mount #Healed the sick #Raised men from the dead (El-Asar-Us for Horus, Lazarus for Jesus) #Died by crucifixion #Were resurrected three days later.Massey, Gerald. The Natural Genesis. Cosimo Classics, 2007. At the same time, most contemporary Egyptologists believe these parallels are not true and pseudo-scientificeSkeptic: Tim Callahan. The Greatest Story Ever GarbledBen Witherington. The Zeitgeist of the 'Zeitgeist Movie'Критика первой части фильмаAren’t there some striking parallels between the Jesus and Horus stories?Ending the Myth of Horus. In particular they point out that, among the sourses make no mention of these facts in the life of Horus, and the celebration of Jesus' birth on December 25 was chosen for political reasons and was never claimed to be the actual date of his birth.A Christian response to "Zeitgeist". W. Ward Gasque conducted a world-wide pole of 20 leading Egyptologists - including Kenneth Kitchen of the University of Liverpool and Ron Leprohan, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Toronto – in Canada, the United States, the UK, Australia, Germany, and Austria to verify if there was any academic support for these claims. The scholars were unanimous in dismissing the claimed parallels. One scholar, who called it "fringe nonsense", also cautioned that "egyptology has the unenviable distinction of being one of those disciplines that almost anyone can lay claim to, and the unfortunate distinction of being probably the one most beleaguered by false prophets."Gasque, W. Ward "The Leading Religion Writer in Canada ... Does He Know What He's Talking About?" George Mason University's History News Networkhttp://hnn.us/articles/6641.html. Recognition His poem "The Merry, Merry May" was set to music in a popular song by composer Christabel Baxendale. In popular culture It is generally understood that he was the original of George Eliot’s Felix Holt. Publications Poetry *''Voices of Freedom, and lyrics of love. London: J. Watson, 1851. *Poems and Ballads. New York: J.C. Derby / Boston: Phillips Sampson, 1854. *The Ballad of Babe Christabel, with other lyric poems. London: David Bogue, 1855. *War Waits. London: David Bogue, 1855. *Craigcook Castle. London: David Bogue, 1856. *The Poetical Works of Gerald Massey: Complete in one volume. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1857. *Robert Burns: A centenary song; and other lyrics. London: W. Kent, 1859. *Poems. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1860. *Havelock's March, and other poems. London: Trubner, 1861. *The Poetical Works of Gerald Massey. London: Routledge, Warne, & Routledge, 1861. *A Tale of Eternity, and other poems. London: Strathan, 1870. *Carmen Nuptiale. London: Spottiswoode, 1880? *Election Lyrics. London: J. Burns, 1886.Published Editions of Gerald Massey's Poetry, GeraldMassey.org, Web, June 8, 2014. *My Lyrical Life: Poems old and new: First series. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1889; Boston: Colby & Rich, 1889. **new edition, ''First Series with additions. London: Watts, 1896 *''My Lyrical Life: Poems old and new: Second series. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1889; Boston: Colby & Rich, 1889. *''Home Rule Rhymes and Labour Lyrics. London: National Press Agency, 1891? Non-fiction *''A Book of the Beginnings: Containing an attempt to recover and reconstitute the lost origines of the myths and mysteries, types and symbols, religion and language, with Egypt for the mouthpiece and Africa as the birthplace''. London: Williams & Norgate, 1881. *''The Natural Genesis; or, Second part of A book of the beginnings, containing an attempt to recover and reconstitute the lost origines of the myths and mysteries, types and symbols, religion and language, with Egypt for the mouthpiece and Africa as the birthplace''. London: Williams & Norgate, 1883. Volume 1, Volume 2 *''The Historical Jesus and Mythical Christ: A lecture. Glasgow: Hay Nesbit, 1880 **published in U.S. as ''The Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ; or, Natural genesis and typology of equinoctial Christolatry. Springfield, MA: Star, 1886. *''The Devil of Darkness in the Light of Evolution: A lecture''. London: Villa Bordighiera, 1887. *''Gnostic and Historic Christianity''. London: Villa Bordighiera, 1887. *''Luniolatry, Ancient and modern: A lecture''. London: Villa Bordighiera, 1888. *''Paul the Gnostic Opponent of Peter, Not an Apostle of Historic Christianity: A lecture''. London: Watts, 1893. *''Man in Search of His Soul during Fifty Thousand Years, and how he found it!: A lecture''. London: Watts, 1897. *''Ancient Egypt, the Light of the World: A work of reclamation and restitution in twelve books''. Lonfon: T.F. Unwin, 1907; Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press, 1992. Volume 1, Volume 2 *''Gerald Massey's Lectures''. New York: S. Weisler, 1974. Books on Shakespeare *''Shakspeare's Sonnets Never Before Interpreted: His private friends identified: Together with a recovered likeness of himself. London: Longmans Green, 1866. *The Secret Drama of Shakespeare's Sonnets. London: Richard Clay, 1888. ''Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Gerald Massey, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, June 8, 2014. See also *List of British poets References * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 12, 2018. Notes External links ;Poems *Massey in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "The Deserter from the Cause," "Christie's Portrait," "His Banner over Me" *Gerald Massey at Poetry Nook (10 poems) *Massey's early poems *Gerald Massey at PoemHunter (47 poems) ;Books * ;Audio / video *Gerald Massey poems at YouTube *Early poems, 1847-1851 at Vimeo ;About *Gerald Masssey in the Gale Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology *Gerald Massey Official website. * Original article is at "Massey, Gerald" Category:1828 births Category:1907 deaths Category:English poets Category:Chartists Category:English socialists Category:Christ myth Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:People from Hertfordshire